


Chapter 11 : Under the fighter

by Myril_Chan



Series: DAO [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27326233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myril_Chan/pseuds/Myril_Chan
Summary: Just a moment of peace and selfthoughts for my dalish warden in a human world and a small change into Alistair's perception of her. First inclusion of Leliana 'cause in DAO Leliana makes every peaceful moments more beautiful, no ?"Elves, humans, dwarves, the Blight threatened everyone in the same way and whatever their size or the shape of their ears, people would all suffer from it: they would lose loved ones, know fear, hunger and pain. To see these waves of refugees piling up in despair at the gates of the village, to see their faces marked by fear had made the threat of the Blight as real as the presence of the darkspawns.""Her face was relaxed and she smiled at the bard as she listened to her sing. Who would have recognized the steel gaze fierce warrior who was still covered with the blood of her enemies a few hours before? For the first time since their encounter, Alistair saw her not as the mysterious elf with intriguing manners or the intrepid hunter able to shoot a bird in full flight a 100 feet away, no: he had just realized that under the warrior was… a woman."
Relationships: Alistair/Female Mahariel (Dragon Age), Alistair/Female Warden (Dragon Age)
Series: DAO [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964107
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

9:30 - Around Lothering

Ymlaïs began to get rid of her armor and once naked, untied the braid that held her hair. 

Climbing on a small rock, she delicately let one of her feet slip into the water. This one was fresh and brought up a wave of cold throughout her body, causing all her hair to rise up along her arms and the tip of her breasts. She brought her foot up, took her momentum and dove into the lake.

She swam for a few moments. It reminded her of teenage memories when she and her friends went swimming in the pools at the foot of the forest waterfalls. It seemed so far away now. Everything had happened so fast since she left her clan with Duncan. The hunt in the Korcari wilds, the massacre of Ostagar, Lothering and its lot of outlaws and bandits. In the surrounding silence, she enjoyed her first true moment of peace in a long time.

Her thoughts returned to the small village they had left behind. She had never seen a shemlen village before. She found the place noisy and dirty. But what struck her the most was the individualism of humans. Many of them were clearly acting in their own interest without concern for the good of the community. There seemed to be great differences in lifestyle between people depending on their place in society.  
Within her clan, she had learned to share resources equitably among all members, and everyone, regardless of status, lived in a manner similar to others. Only the material needs necessary for each person’s role within the group differed. Never would the members of her clan have left one of their members reduced to begging or starving.

She let herself sink into the water, her long fiery hair drawing a moving halo around her head. She did not understand the shemlens but she had also been fascinated by their culture: its huge stone buildings, clothes, food. At the inn, she had slept on a mattress for the first time in her life: it was a real delight. She had often wondered what existed outside the boundaries of her clan, but her imagination had always been confined to the culture of her people. She slowly realized how vast and varied the world was. They were now heading for Redcliff. Alistair had told her a little about his childhood there. She would see an even bigger village, and a castle.

Taking momentum at the bottom of the lake, she rose to the surface and let herself go on her back. Lengthening her legs and arms in the shape of a star, she let herself float while observing the sky, enjoying the gentle rocking of the waves on her skin. She had also been touched by the distress of all these people. Elves, humans, dwarves, the Blight threatened everyone in the same way and whatever their size or the shape of their ears, people would all suffer from it: they would lose loved ones, know fear, hunger and pain. To see these waves of refugees piling up in despair at the gates of the village, to see their faces marked by fear had made the threat of the Blight as real as the presence of the darkspawns.  
Being a grey warden meant that now she was fighting for everyone. She was at peace with that idea. She regretted that her people were forced to flee any other form of civilization. She was convinced that the dalish would have much to offer to the rest of the world… But would the world have much to offer to her people? She realized that she was now this dalish seed planted in human soil.

The absence of movement accentuated the sensation of cold caused by the water and Ymlaïs left the lake regretfully before being frozen. She grabbed the handful of plants she had picked along the way and rubbed her body with it. The plant released a frothy juice, like soap. She rinsed herself by picking up the water from her hands and then dried her hair before tying it and began to dry herself with the little blanket she had taken with her. She now felt lighter (body and mind), invigorated and clean of course, a sensation almost forgotten in recent days. Once dry, she looked at her armour still full of dried blood and undertook to wash it too. Not eager to put back the wet leather on her, she simply put on the sleeveless shirt and the tanned skin pants that she wore under her armour, whistled Fallon and Halani who stood guard and left for the camp.


	2. Chapter 2

While carving out the pheasant that would be cooked for dinner, Alistair let his thoughts wander in the direction of Redcliff. He would return to his childhood home for the first time since his departure for the Chantry ten years earlier. How would he be received at the castle? The Arl would understand the urgency of the situation and would give them his help, he was certain of it. But what was this disease that had struck him and which Ser Donnall (1) had spoken of?

His thoughts were interrupted by a beautiful song. Surprised, he raised his head and saw Leliana sitting on a tree stump, sharpening her blades while singing.

What an incongruous vision was this beautiful young woman with a golden voice, dressed in a coarse man’s armor recovered from the body of a rogue on the outskirts of Lothering, sharpening the weapons with which she sliced her enemies in pieces. At her feet, leaning against the stump, Ymlaïs was looking at her, smiling.

The elf, on the other hand, was simply dressed and her long hair coloured like a setting sun, flowed along her shoulders and in her back. Had it not been for the protruding muscles of her archer’s arms, she seemed so small compared to the human, so fragile.

Her face was relaxed and she smiled at the bard as she listened to her sing. Who would have recognized the steel gaze fierce warrior who was still covered with the blood of her enemies a few hours before? For the first time since their encounter, Alistair saw her not as the mysterious elf with intriguing manners or the intrepid hunter able to shoot a bird in full flight a 100 feet away, no: he had just realized that under the warrior was… a woman.

Without thinking about it, he let his gaze linger on the large almond-shaped eyes, the colour of a spring sky, the light and rosy skin slightly gilded by the sun of this ending summer, the golden brown arabesques that adorned her forehead and her nasal bridge, the finesse of her elf features, and the incredible hair from which the tips of her ears escaped. He realized how beautiful he thought she was. Beautiful as a waking dream.(2)  
Obviously, you had to be blind not to see that she was pretty, even in armor and with knotted hair. But at that moment, with her beaming face, without artifice, she radiated a simple and pure and yet exotic beauty that fascinated him. Moreover, she exuded an impression of sweetness that he did not know from her.

She looked up and when she smiled at him for the first time, he felt his heart tightening. Then she gave him a questioning look and he came out of his torpor, realizing that he had been holding the knife in the air without making the slightest movement for a few minutes. Blushing to the ears, he pricked his nose at the pheasant and returned to work where he had left it.

(1) See chapter 3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/26697046)  
  


**Author's Note:**

> INSPIRATIONS 
> 
> My warden's hair ! It had to be THEIR moment ^^.  
> I'm a creation character's nerd: seriously I can take HOURS to create a character and EVERYTHING on it has to be meaningful. Althought I loved the "Sinnead O'Connor hair" on my warden, which was fitting the "I'm a hunter not a fucking top-model" impression I was aiming for, I wanted her to have loooong beautiful ginger hair. As I said before, I never imagined her to be 100% alpha and those long hair were the symbol of the "woman under the fighter". The woman that would take a long time brushing and tiying them even it would be so more pratical to cut them because she is more than "just" a hunter.  
> It became canon when I romanced Alistair because I imagined this moment when she would untie the bun and show this waterfall of fiery curls that would make his nose bleed ^^. I wrote it slightly differently from what I initially imagined but the mood is the same : cheesy romantic ! ^^ 
> 
> Funfact : This was supposed to be a key moment to trigger my warden X Alistair romance but when I finished to write it down, I could totally ship Leliana and my warden !!  
> It's funny how when I played the game, Leliana's romance was the least interesting to me 'cause... I just didn't "get" it.  
> Leliana is a precious friend for my warden but every time I write a moment with the two of them now, I can totally "get" how this romance would have been. To be honest I was very close to change my mind and go for a Leli X Ymy romance for a while. Actually this would totally match my "Sinnead O'Connor warden" ^^  
> Maybe one day...


End file.
